American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee is a practical expression of the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Committed to the principles of nonviolence and justice, it seeks in its work and witness to draw on the transforming power of love, human and divine.

We recognize that the leadings of the Spirit and the principles of truth found through Friends’ experience and practice are not the exclusive possession of any group. Thus, the AFSC draws into its work people of many faiths and backgrounds who share the values that animate its life and who bring to it a rich variety of experiences and spiritual insights.

This AFSC community works to transform conditions and relationships both in the world and in ourselves, which threaten to overwhelm what is precious in human beings. We nurture the faith that conflicts can be resolved nonviolently, that enmity can be transformed into friendship, strife into cooperation, poverty into well-being, and injustice into dignity and participation. We believe that ultimately goodness can prevail over evil, and oppression in all its many forms can give way.

We seek to understand and address the root causes of poverty, injustice, and war. We hope to act with courage and vision in taking initiatives that may not be popular.

We are called to confront, nonviolently, powerful institutions of violence, evil, oppression, and injustice. Such actions may engage us in creative tumult and tension in the process of basic change. We seek opportunities to help reconcile enemies and to facilitate a peaceful and just resolution of conflict.

We work to relieve and prevent suffering through both immediate aid and long-term development and seek to serve the needs of people on all sides of violent strife.

We ground our work at the community level both at home and abroad in partnership with those who suffer the conditions we seek to change and informed by their strength and vision.

Seeking to transform the institutions of society, we are ourselves transformed in the process. As we work in the world around us, our awareness grows that the AFSC’s own organizational life must change to reflect the same goals we urge others to achieve.

Website:  http://www.afsc.org/about/default.htm

Contact:
637 S. Dearborn
3^rd Floor
Chicago, IL 60605
Phone:  312-427-2533 Fax: 312-427-4171
mmcconnell-glr@afsc.org

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National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Greater Illinois Chapter

National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Greater Illinois Chapter

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society funds more MS research, offers more services to people with MS, provides more professional education programs and advances more MS advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. Through its home office and fifty-state network of chapters, the National MS Society provides assistance to over a million people annually in its continuing mission to end the devastating effects of multiple sclerosis.

Website:  http://www.msillinois.org Address:  910 West Van Buren Street, 4th Floor   Chicago, IL 60607 Contact:  Danielle Estler Phone:  (312) 423-1136 Email:  cgic@ild.nmss.org

The National Organization for Women (NOW)

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Since its founding in 1966, NOW’s goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.

NOW is one of the few multi-issue progressive organizations in the United States. NOW stands against all oppression, recognizing that racism, sexism and homophobia are interrelated, that other forms of oppression such as classism and ableism work together with these three to keep power and privilege concentrated in the hands of a few.

Government, our judicial system, big business, mainstream media and other institutions treat many groups in our society like second-class citizens. Pitting us against each other is an essential mechanism for maintaining the status quo. Together, we can create the change we’ve been dreaming of—our unity is our strength.

http://www.now.org/index.html

Chicago NOW200 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 602Chicago, IL 60601

Phone: 312.578.9351

Community Media Workshop

Who We Are

The story of Chicago is often seen as the Tale of Two Cities. Unfortunately only one of these stories usually gets told in all its detail; the glorious downtown, the skyline, the glitz and glamour, the restaurants, the opera, the tourist Chicago, the chic Chicago, where problems are forgotten and escapist fantasy reigns.

Then there’s the other Chicago,where most residents live, where schools and little else work as well as they should, where the infrastructure and housing crumbles, where too many children die either of boredom or neglect or too much violent excitement, the neighborhoody Chicago, the gritty real Chicago, where problems linger, and solutions are created by citizens noisily exercising their democratic rights.

The Community Media Workshop, founded by a journalist, Hank De Zutter, and a community activist, Thom Clark, is a small institution trying to link the two Chicagos by encouraging the media to tell the stories of the other Chicago, the oft-neglected neighborhoods and back streets of Chicago, where the problems are felt most deeply and where solutions are most likely to be born.

The Workshop trains people working on these problems to tell their stories to the media, tips sensitive journalists to the importance of these stories, and tries to create better relationships between the media and the diverse communities which make up Chicago and the Midwest.

Since our start in a Malcolm X College classroom in 1989, over 800 nonprofit organizations have received hands-on training and coaching for their newsworthy efforts. Over 2000 groups have subscribed to Getting On The Air & Into Print, the comprehensive Chicago media guide. Another Workshop publication, Newstips, is now distributed twice-monthly to over 700 reporters, editors and producers around Chicago.

Now at Columbia College, we tap the talent and experience Columbia’s communications-oriented student body and faculty can offer to the city’s nonprofit community.

Columbia College Chicago
600 S. Michigan
Chicago IL 60605 (walk-in: 619 S. Wabash)

Email: cmw@newstips.org

Phone: 312-344-6400
Fax: 344-6404

Website:http://www.newstips.org/index.php

Chicago Gateway Green

Chicago Gateway Green is a non-profit organization dedicated to the beautification of the Chicagoland area, benefiting the environment and improving the quality-of-life for millions of residents and annual visitors.

In August of 1996, Gateway Green and the City of Chicago dedicated the award winning Donald J. DePorter Gateway, formerly the North Orleans Triangle, located at the base of the Kennedy Expressway and the Ohio and Ontario Street feeder ramp. This “Gateway to Chicago” was transformed through extensive landscaping and the relocation of the famed sculpture “Being Born” by Virginio Ferrari.

Due to the excited reception of the creation of this new ‘gateway’ to Chicago, Gateway Green was approached to develop a similar ‘gateway’ near the McCormick Convention Center. In 1998, Gateway Green dedicated its second sculpture-enhanced ‘gateway.’ The dramatic 60’ wide sculpture Arris, created by artist John Henry, serves as the focal point of the McCormick Gateway, greeting visitors to Chicago’s McCormick Place at the intersection of Indiana Avenue and Cermak Road.

Ultimately these projects became the launching pad for an intense redevelopment of much of Chicago’s front lawn. In 1999, Gateway Green developed the Expressway Partnership program, which joins the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois with Chicago’s corporate community to “transform our Expressways into Parkways.” Distinct from traditional ‘adopt-a-highway’ programs in other states, Gateway Green develops and maintains each sponsor’s site through the run of the program. The Expressway Partnership program includes various sites along the Kennedy, Eisenhower, Stevenson, Dan Ryan and Edens Expressways.

In 2005, with the continued growth of the Expressway Partnership, Chicago Gateway Green launched an entirely new landscape design concept on Kennedy Expressway. Contiguous, undulating mow lines were implemented to connect O’Hare Airport to the Loop. The effect was to lessen harmful pollution emissions, as well as expand existing plants beds, creating a tiered landscape inclusive of native Illinois grasses. The effect is reminiscent of Midwestern prairies. With the success of this new design, similar concepts will be developed on the Eisenhower (2006) and the Dan Ryan.

As sponsors continue to join our efforts, and as the overall profile of the organization is further raised through our fundraising events and promotions, the scope of our mission continues to expand as well. Our goal is to transform Chicago’s reputation from a gritty city of “big shoulders” to 21st century metropolis leading the way in responsible environmental development as one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
http://www.gatewaygreen.org/

The AMA Building
515 North State Street
Chicago, IL 60610
312-645-8992
312-645-8993 (Fax)
info@gatewaygreen.org

American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee is a practical expression of the faith of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Committed to the principles of nonviolence and justice, it seeks in its work and witness to draw on the transforming power of love, human and divine.

We recognize that the leadings of the Spirit and the principles of truth found through Friends’ experience and practice are not the exclusive possession of any group. Thus, the AFSC draws into its work people of many faiths and backgrounds who share the values that animate its life and who bring to it a rich variety of experiences and spiritual insights.

This AFSC community works to transform conditions and relationships both in the world and in ourselves, which threaten to overwhelm what is precious in human beings. We nurture the faith that conflicts can be resolved nonviolently, that enmity can be transformed into friendship, strife into cooperation, poverty into well-being, and injustice into dignity and participation. We believe that ultimately goodness can prevail over evil, and oppression in all its many forms can give way.

We seek to understand and address the root causes of poverty, injustice, and war. We hope to act with courage and vision in taking initiatives that may not be popular.

We are called to confront, nonviolently, powerful institutions of violence, evil, oppression, and injustice. Such actions may engage us in creative tumult and tension in the process of basic change. We seek opportunities to help reconcile enemies and to facilitate a peaceful and just resolution of conflict.

We work to relieve and prevent suffering through both immediate aid and long-term development and seek to serve the needs of people on all sides of violent strife.

We ground our work at the community level both at home and abroad in partnership with those who suffer the conditions we seek to change and informed by their strength and vision.

We work with all people, the poor and the materially comfortable, the disenfranchised and the powerful in pursuit of justice. We encourage collaboration in social transformation towards a society that recognizes the dignity of each person. We believe that the Spirit can move among all these groups, making great change possible.

Seeking to transform the institutions of society, we are ourselves transformed in the process. As we work in the world around us, our awareness grows that the AFSC’s own organizational life must change to reflect the same goals we urge others to achieve.
http://www.afsc.org/chicago/default.htm

637 S. Dearborn, Ste. 3
Chicago, IL 60605

Phone: 312-427-2533
Fax: 312-427-4171
Email: Chicagoinfo@afsc.org

Civic Consulting Alliance

The Civic Consulting Alliance (CCA) is a not-for-profit consulting firm working to improve government in the City of Chicago and our region. CCA provides general management consulting services (strategic planning, operational improvements, and organizational design) using a combination of CCA staff consultants, client employees, and consultants “on loan” from Chicago’s top private sector corporations and consulting firms.

The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, local philanthropic organizations, and members of our Board support CCA financially and with loaned resources.  As a result, CCA delivers its valuable services at no cost to our clients.

Portfolio
CCA establishes its goals and projects on a regular basis by reviewing emerging issues with its Board and aligning project prospects with the needs of local government agencies and available resources. Examples of engagements include:
Chicago Transit Authority: Capital Improvement Program Redesign (1998)
Chicago Housing Authority: Plan for Transformation Organization Redesign (2001)
Chicago Park District: City-wide Programming Strategy (2003)
Chicago Public Schools: Renaissance 2010 Strategic Planning (2004-2005)
City of Chicago Mayor’s Office and Office of Budget and Management (joint): City-wide Performance Management (2005-2006)
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning: start-up strategy and
operational support (2005-2006)
Impact
Since its inception, CCA projects have saved the City of Chicago and its sister agencies more than $1 billion. Projects have also led to numerous service improvements, enabling government to run more effectively and improving the everyday lives of citizens.

Because CCA focuses solely on local government agencies, we provide continuity that maximizes the impact of our partners’ “on loan” resources.  The result is high leverage for loaned resources, making CCA an attractive partner for corporations that want to make a difference in Chicago.  Over the past year alone, partners contributed $3 million in services to the City and sister agencies through CCA.

History
In September 1985, Mayor Harold Washington asked the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, comprised primarily of the chief executives form Chicago’s largest corporations, to evaluate the financial health of the City. In response, the Civic Committee and Chicago United established the Financial Planning Committee, bringing together more than 70 executives to study the budget, evaluate long-range financial prospects, and make recommendations for strengthening the financial condition of the City. In 1987, the Financial Research and Advisory Committee (FRAC) organized to implement and improve upon these recommendations. In 2005, FRAC became the Civic Consulting Alliance — a name that reflects both the wider range of issues CCA takes on today, and the unique approach to working with partners across the civic landscape.
http://www.ccachicago.org/index.html

21 South Clark Street
Suite 3120
Chicago, IL 60603-2006
312-853-9160
312-853-9169 (Fax)

The Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago

We are the civic arm of The Commercial Club of Chicago — one the oldest organizations representing the business, professional, educational and cultural leaders of the Chicago region. The Civic Committee is comprised of senior executives in the Chicago region’s leading institutions and is dedicated to improving Chicago as a place to live, work, and conduct business.

In 1983, The Commercial Club of Chicago commissioned an unprecedented study into the economic well-being of the Chicago metropolitan area. The study concluded that Chicago was experiencing a gradual erosion of its economic vitality. In response, The Commercial Club formed its Civic Committee to examine the various problems that affected the metropolitan area at the time and to devise a long-term strategic plan for addressing these problems.
Today, the Civic Committee functions as a private, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to stimulate and encourage the growth of the area’s economy and its ability to provide for its people.

The Civic Committee pursues economic development in its broadest sense by supporting efforts to improve the general business environment – the structure and processes of the local economy – so that businesses can prosper and generate jobs.

The Civic Committee also works to protect and improve those parts of the local environment on which employers depend: sound and effective local government services, superior transportation and communication networks, strong education and training systems, excellent health care delivery and reasonable local tax and regulatory structures.

The Civic Committee gives special attention to efforts and plans that relate to the entire Chicago metropolitan area in the belief that the City of Chicago and its surrounding territory constitute a single and interdependent economic region.

In pursuing these goals, the Civic Committee seeks out partnerships with other public and private sector organizations so as to minimize duplication of efforts and to utilize the strength of coalitions representing different constituencies.
http://www.civiccommittee.org/index.html

21 South Clark Street
Suite 3120
Chicago, IL 60603-2006
312-853-1200
312-853-1209 (Fax)

StreetWise

 

Since 1992, we have provided employment to more than 3,600 homeless men and women, enabling them to secure housing and buy food, clothing and personal necessities. Most importantly, StreetWise has served as the opportunity for their journey back to self-sufficiency. Since the first edition of our paper was issued on the streets of Chicago, we have relied on the support of the community’s businesses, philanthropic organizations and volunteers to create a successful program. At the heart of it all is the motivation of our vendors to help expand and evolve our offerings. For these vendors, we are a bridge to full-time employment, economic stability and self-respect. StreetWise has created and delivered a unified voice that has expanded awareness of homeless issues to a diverse Chicagoland readership

http://www.streetwise.org/

1201 W. Lake St.
Chicago, IL. 60607
(312) 829-2526
mail@streetwise.org

Chicago Foundation for Women

One of the largest women’s funds in the world, Chicago Foundation for Women believes that all women and girls in the Chicago metropolitan area should have the opportunity to achieve their potential and to live in safe, just and healthy communities. We support the achievement of social justice through grantmaking and advocacy.Since 1986, Chicago Foundation for Women has impacted social justice through advocacy, leadership development, and public and grantee education. In addition, we have awarded more than 2,300 grants totaling $13 million to hundreds of organizations that make life better for women and girls.

Our work is rooted in three principles of women’s human rights: economic security; freedom from violence; and access to health services. Our core values include diversity, accessibility and choice. We are part of a global women’s movement that is rooted in a commitment to justice and an appreciation of the value of a gender lens. For every issue on the national agenda—from violence to health care—there is a major dimension specific to women. There are few community problems that can be resolved without programs and strategies that specifically address the needs of women and children. Women’s issues involve the entire community. When a woman is given an opportunity, an entire family can benefit. Website: http://www.cfw.org/ Chicago Foundation for Women
One East Wacker Drive
Suite 1620
Chicago, IL 60601Phone: (312) 577-2801
Fax: (312) 577-2802
TTY: (312) 577-2803
Email:info@cfw.org